Deal With It, It's Called Cinema...The Austen of It All..Critique on A Critique of 90's Dressing...and "Greencard"

*By the way, the Andie MacDowell photo is credited to Touchstone Pictures.

(This is the moment when Georges tells her he must think of a good reason to say why he's in love with her!)

Bronte: " It can't be that hard to think of a reason!"

Georges:" Ah, I begin to hear music again! That's It."

Yesterday I was perusing the 'net because I was having sooo many problems with Firefox and I came across a column by Hadley Freeman of the Guardian in the U.K. , dated September 2009. The reader was questioning why fashion was so bad in the 1990s quoting that she found her self watching "Green Card" which debuted in 1990 and starred Andie MacDowell and Gerard Depardieu, along with Bebe Neuwirth. It is hard to realize this movie is now twenty years old!

Personally I love this movie. Although Andie had a few rough scenes, particularly the one where she is denoucing George for touching her things (which sounds like a irate but well-memorized tirade since she doesn't manage to convey her hurt). For the most part this ensemble piece was well portrayed.

I am a Depardieu fan, enough said, and I think Bebe Neuwirth is a genius as her bohemian actress best friend. The lovely Lois Smith plays her mother and a wonderful Conrad McLaren played her Dad, a novelist who named all six of his children after famous authors, including Bronte and Austen. Not to mention the wonderful "Miss Bird", a tiny terrorist who harrasses everyone into conformity with her black umbrella.

The particular outfit that was questioned was the loose, khaki-green jumper that Ande wears to Central Park on Sunday afternoon. There were actually two jumpers of this color worn in the movie: a dropped-waist number when the immigration agents first visit, and then the button-front job. Hmmn, a trend here? Actually pretty cutting edge in 1990, these jumpers are a reflection of the character's personality, not a fashion statement of the times. Ms. Freeman responded that there was "no taste" in the '90s but I think she missed a major point, which is craft service and character dressing-a big part of cinematography.

Bronte is supposed to be a late-thirty-ish master gardener who has a high-profile job with the New York City Parks Department, hence the funds to purchase a one-bedroom roof-top flat with an art-deco garden and a terrace in a charming old New York building. She has no television, listens to classical music and own scads of belongings that are vintage..."Shabby Chic" but in dark woods instead of white, but still lots of pastels. She owns one thing that is brand-new: an Ikea lamp.

All of this sets the stage for her self-controlled life. She's had plenty of chances, but never married. She has a long-time boyfriend who never gets invited in. A few years ago I happened upon an interview with MacDowell in which she said that Bronte was "fat" and "didn't care about her looks". Well, I disagree. Looking at the character motive, I would say that Bronte is very self-conscious. She is a determined vegetarian, doesn't drink caffeine or eat fat, and no one could ever think a character that McDowell played was fat! Jules and I were aghast at that remark.

So the looser, garden-toned clothes that she was put into reflect the organic gardener in her character and I will input that about this time the books of Jane Austen had a resurgeance in popularity since period movies were en vogue (E. M. Forster's Room with A View, Howard's End, the Austen books, etc.). I am including a cropped shot from a Jane Austen Convention so that the styles from that period are notable.

Most women had at least one of these dresses in the mid-to-late '90s: an empire- waisted concoction made of tiny checked or floral polyester that were near ankle length. Some had the vest, which also was a hallmark of the Regency Era (1795-1830 roughly). It would have looked funny to wear the Spencer, a jacket with long sleeves that barely covered the bossom, or a basket bonnet, so the fashions of the 90s included floppy straw sun hats and camp shirts, worn with flats.

If you look back on sewing-pattern fashion you will find variations on the Regency jumpers and blouses. A lot of women, including myself at times, wear this look because it is comfortable, even in the heat! I found it funny that the notion that they were discussing is a movie, not real life, totally escaped the writer. Most of the other clothing in that movie appears to be normal, even classic. As a foil to Bronte's gardener outfits Depardieu's character, Georges, wore only black or black/white throughout the film, except for one scene when they were taking photos and he was in farmer jeans (so apropos and just about the time Bronte was warming up to him).

Well, I need a second cup of java now! I tend to not want to criticize just for the sake of doing it, but intellectualizing CAN BE FUN!

Oh, and if you've never seen it...do. I didn't see it until it was on television!

More talk LATER! For fun "Austen" reading see the LINK BELOW-

NEW book, an Austen Parody: " Pride and Prejudice and Zombies" http://www.chroniclebooks.com/index/main,book-info/store,books/products_id,7847/title,Pride-and-Prejudice-and-Zombies/